Pro-Life

The National Post breaks down the most recent complete numbers from the Canadian Institute for Health Information on abortion in Canada, gathered from provincial and territorial ministries of health, hospitals and independent abortion clinics (it doesn’t include fee-for-service abortion data because it’s of varying quality). While data from hospitals and clinics alone underestimates the number of abortions performed in Canada annually, for now it’s the best way to produce comparable Canadian data. Below is a look at the 93,755 induced abortions reported in 2009 (the most recent year for which data were available). See entire article with graphic here.

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Kwantlen Pro-Life Student Group Denied Right to Exist on their University Campus

Students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University have obtained legal representation to fight a recent rejection by the student union of their application to form a pro-life club on campus.

The Kwantlen Student Association (KSA), which represents the students from the university’s four Vancouver Metro area campuses, explained its decision by stating that the creation of the Protectores Vitae club “is clearly against our own standing policy on Abortion and a Woman’s Right to Choose.”

“We’re very disappointed,” said Oliver Capko, president of the pro-life group. “Our student association is supposed to represent us and not censor us for having a different position.” Read entire article here.

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Canada’s all or nothing abortion debate

Rona Ambrose is the minister for status of women. She is also the new enemy of the Canadian pro-choice movement, because she voted in favour of M-312 last week, Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’s controversial motion that would allow for an all-party parliamentary committee to revisit the question of when exactly a human life begins (read: hopefully in the womb, not outside). The motion, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper voted against, was defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 203 to 91. Critics have called Woodworth’s motion disingenuous; he didn’t officially reopen the abortion debate, they argue, but he tried to start a conversation that might have led us down that path. Lately, however, the question is less about Woodworth than it is about Ambrose: should a champion of women’s rights, especially the federal champion of women’s rights in Canada, be supportive of any legislation that could potentially bring abortion laws back to Canada? (In 1988, the Supreme Court struck them down.)

Anti-abortion and pro-choice groups square off

The debate between anti-abortion and pro-choice groups is heating up in Kelowna after the mayor declared Sept. 23-30 Protect Human Life Week.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada on Tuesday launched a campaign to get the mayor to reverse his decision, claiming it is discriminatory to women.

If Kelowna revokes the proclamation, the local Right to Life Society said it will make a complaint of discriminatory and selective proclamation practices to the B.C. Human Rights tribunal.

In July, Kelowna’s mayor, Walter Gray, made the official proclamation after a request from the society. According to city guidelines, the mayor has the discretion to issue a proclamation “of a message of importance, interest and/or benefit to the people of Kelowna.” Read the entire article here.

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Abortion Stops a Beating Heart

Despite pressure from abortion advocates around the country to rescind Kelowna’s pro life proclamation, Protect Human Life Week 2012 went off as planned. Deputy Mayor Gail Given even came out to the Walk for Life and read the proclamation to formally open the week. Visit site here.